2025 Race week 1 Preview - Wales & The West chasing another Racing League title as season five begins at Great Yarmouth

Jamie Osborne hopes his Wales & The West side can claim its third Racing League title in four years as season five kicks off at Great Yarmouth on Thursday, July 24.

Wales & The West has set the standard in Racing League since the switch to a regional format, accruing 2,463 points over the last three seasons, 307 more than next best London & The South.

Osborne’s team regained the crown in style last year with three winners on the final night at Southwell, having saddled 83 out of a possible 84 runners during the competition.

Osborne said: “I would be pretty positive about our chances again this year. I have a good core team of trainers, who are all singing off the same hymn sheet. We are setting our stall out to win it and, among our trainers, I think we have enough well-handicapped horses to run during the competition. That should give us a fair shot of retaining our title.

“Our main strength has been our ability to fill our allocation at each meeting. With the new rule that you can add trainers to your team during the competition, I think that may take away the advantage we have had in recent years, although I respect why it has been done with a view to full fields. I suspect it will help the teams who are less organised than us.”

Wales & The West’s Saffie Osborne has five rides at Great Yarmouth as she bids to win Racing League’s top jockey award for a fourth consecutive year, including top-weight Epictetus in the feature £75,000 handicap.

On Wales & The West’s chances at Great Yarmouth, Jamie Osborne said: “We formed a backup plan over the weekend, given there was so much uncertainty about the ground. It is much easier to plan for the all-weather when the ground variable is taken out of the equation, but I think our team looks in decent shape. I would class it as medium in terms of strength, compared to squads we could field later in the competition.

“I think a key race for us this week will be Race 6, in which we have King’s Scholar and Tryfan, who have both progressed nicely this year. Even though the market may not reflect it, I think Dorney Lake and Thunder Blue could go well in Race 2, while Dosman is another one to look out for in Race 4.”

London & The South, under the guidance of Matt Chapman, will be looking to improve on back-to-back third-place finishes, having filled the runner-up position in 2022.

Chapman said: “I am very hopeful of a good Racing League showing from London & The South this year. The rule changes should help us in the areas where we have struggled in the past, which has tended to be staying races.

“Working out running plans for this week was interesting. On Monday morning the ground at Yarmouth was Good, Good to Firm in places, and by Monday afternoon it was Soft. That made it a challenge, but I think all the team managers enjoy that, switching horses in and out.

“Historically, Yarmouth has never been our strongest meeting, but I think my team is as good as it could be from the entries. Who’s Glen looks an obvious contender in Race 6. Andrew Balding begged me to step him up in trip last year, which I never did, and with hindsight that was a massive mistake.

“Rathgar is the defending champion for Jack Channon in the feature race. He popped up at a big price last year and the ground looks more favourable this time around. Andaleep, who goes in the same race, is an absolute warrior and just so consistent at this sort of level – whoever beats him will know they’ve had a race.

“Several trainers have joined the team this week, including Hughie Morrison who I owe a big thank you to. He has been very patient with jockey bookings and hopefully his horse Caprelo can run well.”

The East made a flying start to last year’s competition, following up three wins at Great Yarmouth with a stunning five-timer at Wolverhampton. Trainer Charlie Fellowes takes over from Chris Hughes as team manager this time around.

Fellowes said: “We have a full team this week, which is good as we had a couple of hairy moments last minute! My trainers have really stepped up and I think we have a competitive squad to go to war with. Hopefully, we can make a decent start, like we did last year.

“In terms of our best chances, Sensorium in Race 2 for Dylan Cunha is an interesting horse. Dylan really likes him and, although he has been off since August, he is ready to rock and roll. The two James Fanshawe horses are interesting – Charmaine in Race 1 and Pique’ in Race 6 – while Glam Squad and Tan Rapido of mine should like the ground.”

Ireland snatched the title from Wales & The West on a memorable final night in 2023. Having come fourth last year, the team is under new management, with Grand National-winning jockey Mick Fitzgerald taking over from Kevin Blake.

Fitzgerald said: “When the news filtered through regarding the ground, my phone has never beeped so many times! Everything we had organised – and I thought we were pretty organised – went out the window. Some of the horses do not want soft ground but that is the nature of the beast.

“I have Billy Loughnane and Finley Marsh with plenty of rides on Thursday. And I think Billy is very keen to wrestle the top jockey award away from Saffie Osborne. Hopefully, we can get one or two on the board this week.”